Wait For The Dawn by Jess Foley

Blurb

Faced with a future that holds little promise, Lydia Halley longs to leave home. But it is only after her mother’s tragic death that she finally seizes her chance of freedom – a freedom she has yearned for all her life.

Taking up lodgings in the bustling city of Redbury, she meets handsome stranger Guy Anderson and so begins a friendship which blossoms into love. Until one day a telegram from Italy brings devastating news for Guy – and their passionate leave-taking has dramatic consequences for them both …

My Perspective

This is the third book i chose to read from my post Second Lot

Well first up this book was so predictable. I think i knew what was going to happen in it’s entirety after about the first six chapters (there are twenty-two chapters all up).

The novel is about a young lady, Lydia Halley, who’s mother dies in a very unfortunate accident. Taking this opportunity to gain her independence, she moves out of home, taking a new job in a distant town. There she meets a charming young man, Guy Anderson, who sweeps her off her feet – in more ways than one.

I found Lydia to be a mostly likeable character, even though she was foolish. I did not like Guy’s character at all. I found him to be selfish and weak. I think if he had acted differently – and don’t get me wrong, i understand without his lack of self control then there probably wouldn’t have been a story, but it wasn’t just that (i can’t go into too much detail without spoiling it), then i would have still enjoyed the story even though it was so predictable.

In one scene, there was some very slight sexual references, however because i was feeling so aggravated by the book i was tempted to put it down and blame it on that. However i realised that wasn’t very fair so i gave it another chance and even though my opinion of Lydia increased, my opinion of Guy, not so much.

You might say that even though with what had happened, if Guy had acted differently even then, there wouldn’t be a story either. However i think a few small details could have easily made him into the ‘misunderstood hero’. Or something like that.

I also found the author’s writing style tedious. I felt that there was too much detail, and not like the classics, where they describe the scene in great lengths, just that every single second was mentioned. For example: ‘Now, with almost another hour to kill, she wandered around the store again and then had a cup of coffee that she did not want in the small coffee shop on one of the upper floors. Then, when it was time, she got the lift back to the top floor. There, after letting the young man know that she had returned, she moved along to the waiting area indicated by him and sat down with a magazine.” A lot of the book was written like that. I can handle slower paced books, in fact i enjoy them (unless that are extremely slow paced – Moby Dick) however this wasn’t slow paced to me.

I wouldn’t say i hated the book, but i certainly didn’t love it either. I wouldn’t read it again and i’m not sure whether i would recommend it. It wasn’t bad per say, just that there are so many better books out there that you could read. However if you like a predicable romance, i suppose you might enjoy it.